Seravalli: Gaudreau has informed the Flames he will not return

[GullFoss]

Originally Posted by dino7c

these would get a lot of dislikes

Yes, but I wrote a bad post and the dislikes were at 100. And those dislikes were public for all to see...I'd feel like I was being attacked. But if those dislikes were only private for me to see, it would allow for reasonable feedback that people genuinely disliked my post.

And then I could decide for myself how i wanted to react to those dislikes without being publicly shamed. If my take was controversial, but fair, I might ignore them. But if my post was a myself blowing off steam, a bad take, or actually upsetting people, I could assess that for myself as well.

[Flamesfan05]

Originally Posted by taxbuster

Curious to note that the Flames tweeted out a "good luck and so long" to Erik Gudbranson...and so far, from what I can see.....public radio silence on Johnny except for BT's presser.

Technically Johnny is still a free man.

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by Sec214

Jarmo Kekäläinen is a mad man with a blank cheque. Its under a 2 hour flight from home.

So he is going to fly home after every home game? A guy who hates to fly? I don't think so.

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

What I would have done, before the deadline, once it became clear he wasn't signing.

- Ask him for three teams he wants to sign with
- Call those teams
- Offer them a signed Gaudreau for 8 years instead of the 7 they would get
- Let each team know there are two other teams in the same picture
- Find out what each team would need to do to clear space
- Work out the best deal I can from amongst those teams
- Sign him for 8x11.5 and make the trade to the team with the best deal

Johnny gets to go where he wants and gets the term and $$ he would have from us.
The team gets Johnny for 8 years instead of 7 and some space for his contract.
We get something (picks, a cap dump, maybe a prospect) in return.

Do I live in a different universe than other people? Probably, but at least in my universe everyone wins.

I believe the CBA prevents a team from signing and trading their player to an 8 year deal. Could be wrong though.

[T-Dog]

The whole narrative around how he needs to play close to home is still baffling to me. Most NHLers don't play in their home town. Does a 29 year old man really need to be that close to his mom and dad?

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by T-Dog

The whole narrative around how he needs to play close to home is still baffling to me. Most NHLers don't play in their home town. Does a 27 year old man really need to be that close to his mom and dad?

29 in August. Time flies.

[Sec214]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

So he is going to fly home after every home game? A guy who hates to fly? I don't think so.

Johnny wouldn't be the one travelling obviously, doesn't have to fly home every night but its a lot less daunting then a 10+ hour travel with a border crossing for the ol families. Just hop on the PJ.

He left Calgary to be closer to family.

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by Makarov

Like this post if you don't love Blaster86.

[Cycling76er]

Originally Posted by T-Dog

The whole narrative around how he needs to play close to home is still baffling to me. Most NHLers don't play in their home town. Does a 27 year old man really need to be that close to his mom and dad?

No. But his wife and soon-to-be-born child that are from the same area likely wanting to be close to family.

It's his decision to make. It was just the piss-poor, last minute timing off it and false sense of hope he gave to the fans and organization that is the really ball kicker.

[GullFoss]

Originally Posted by T-Dog

The whole narrative around how he needs to play close to home is still baffling to me. Most NHLers don't play in their home town. Does a 27 year old man really need to be that close to his mom and dad?

Glencross took a discount to be close to home. JayBo came here to be close to home. Warrener and Regehr probably as well. Tavares and Gio and Spezza recently in Toronto...

When you're making $80m over 8 years, does another $1m per year really mean a whole lot? Or does all the priceless stuff - like the time you and your family get to spend with loved ones - matter more?

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

Originally Posted by T-Dog

The whole narrative around how he needs to play close to home is still baffling to me. Most NHLers don't play in their home town. Does a 29 year old man really need to be that close to his mom and dad?

I'm more baffled by everyone tripping up on this. Regardless of if you or others think he should care, it doesn't matter. It should be looked at like this. He's reached UFA status, which means for a player like him, as good as him, he has now earned the control (which previously sat with Management) over a number of things. More control over dollars, term and even "where" he plays.

Whether it's a desire to be closer to family. A preference for less impactful travel. A city he'd like to live in. An org he'd like to play for. The point is, he's earned the right to have more flexibility on prioritizing what's important to him through the UFA process. Unfortunately for us, he's chosen to exercise that right, and unfortunately for us, location seems to have been important for whatever reason.

Not sure why people are wasting energy on analyzing what his priorities are. They are his priorities.

[camm13]

Originally Posted by T-Dog

The whole narrative around how he needs to play close to home is still baffling to me. Most NHLers don't play in their home town. Does a 29 year old man really need to be that close to his mom and dad?

He's from NJ, and probably likes the life style there. That and his wife his from the area, with a baby on the way if being around extended family is their priority then so be it.

[activeStick]

Originally Posted by Manhattanboy

Well it must be an interesting morning in the Flames offices.

Do we look like idiots to the rest of the league?

Surprisingly my friends in other NHL cities have been quite understanding in their messages.

My friends in Vancouver have been ripping into me yesterday and today, laughing at how crappy the Flames will be next season. They are enjoying this quite a bit.

Friends in Toronto feel terrible for me. They still like the Flames team but are also concerned about Tkachuky leaving.

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by camm13

He's from NJ, and probably likes the life style there. That and his wife his from the area, with a baby on the way if being around extended family is their priority then so be it.

When having a baby, usually the wife wants to be close to her parents and not the other way around. Leaving Calgary because of this strikes me as pretty odd for a first time parent. For this reason alone, I still don't buy the argument that this was only about family.

It was surely part of the equation, but I still personally get the feeling that he's not confident in the franchise given the track record since he's been here. Perhaps he wasn't pleased about not being able to hammer something out last year to avoid all the contract drama (he's a private guy) and this possibly soured the relationship. Purely speculating.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by GullFoss

Glencross took a discount to be close to home. JayBo came here to be close to home. Warrener and Regehr probably as well. Tavares and Gio and Spezza recently in Toronto...

When you're making $80m over 8 years, does another $1m per year really mean a whole lot? Or does all the priceless stuff - like the time you and your family get to spend with loved ones - matter more?

Well since you asked... I would maximize my earnings because I know my playing career is short and I'll be able to go home when I retire at the tender age of 35ish.

If I worked for some O&G company and I could make $150k in a US city, uncertain if/when I could ever return home, or $125k to stay put, I probably choose to stay home so my kids are close to family.

[sureLoss]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1547326109980758023

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Well since you asked... I would maximize my earnings because I know my playing career is short and I'll be able to go home when I retire at the tender age of 35ish.

If I worked for some O&G company and I could make $150k in a US city, uncertain if/when I could ever return home, or $125k to stay put, I probably choose to stay home so my kids are close to family.

Why though, presumably the US company would be paying you in US dollars, so you would be making 194K a year. You would be leaving 69K on the table, taking a 60% salary shaving. Even if the 150K was in Canadian dollars, you would be leaving 20% on the table. Johnny left Canada and left 20% on the table, he decided not to maximize his earnings. It would make more sense (especially if the 150K was in US dollars) for you to move to the States. You would not be uncertain as to when you could come home, you could just quit your job.

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus

When having a baby, usually the wife wants to be close to her parents and not the other way around. Leaving Calgary because of this strikes me as pretty odd for a first time parent. For this reason alone, I still don't buy the argument that this was only about family.

It was surely part of the equation, but I still personally get the feeling that he's not confident in the franchise given the track record since he's been here. Perhaps he wasn't pleased about not being able to hammer something out last year to avoid all the contract drama (he's a private guy) and this possibly soured the relationship. Purely speculating.

His wife is from Philly area, too.

[Sec214]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

https://twitter.com/user/status/1547326109980758023

Post #1669

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by Aarongavey

Why though, presumably the US company would be paying you in US dollars, so you would be making 194K a year. You would be leaving 69K on the table, taking a 60% salary shaving. Even if the 150K was in Canadian dollars, you would be leaving 20% on the table. Johnny left Canada and left 20% on the table, he decided not to maximize his earnings. It would make more sense (especially if the 150K was in US dollars) for you to move to the States. You would not be uncertain as to when you could come home, you could just quit your job.

Maybe it was just a hypothetical and he already corrected for exchange in his mind?

Originally Posted by sureLoss

https://twitter.com/user/status/1547326109980758023

I've always though CBJ was an interesting dark horse.